Why did I think this was going to be a good idea? Oh yeah, shiny jets.

The line for takeoff to Houston on Sunday night out of JFK was over 5 miles long. I think we were number 60-70 for takeoff at some point. We spent about two hours on the ground before takeoff. When we finally got to IAH, our flight out the next morning had to be delayed so we could get our minimum of 8 hours of “rest”. That’s 8 hours from duty end, which is 15 minutes after the plane pulls into the gate, until our report time, which is when we have to be at the airport the next morning. In actuality, with the van ride to and from the airport, it translates to 6 hours of sleep if I’m really lucky.

We got back in to JFK around 1pm or so. The thunderstorms were starting to build, and we had to hold for half an hour or so. The next flight to DEN wasn’t leaving until 6:50pm and it was overbooked, so I wasted $30 on a cab ride to LGA where there was an earlier United flight that was empty. When I got there, the concourse was a zoo. There was about a 3pm and a 5:30pm DEN flight, both of which had “estimated” departure times of 5:45pm. In time, one of them left mostly full, but weight restricted, so I couldn’t even jumpseat. The next one was canceled. There was a Northwest flight leaving around the same time that was also canceled. After talking to Joanna, I went over to another concourse, going back through security, and waited around for a Frontier flight that was scheduled for 5:30pm or so, but which eventually left at 8pm. When I checked in for that flight there were 3 people ahead of my for the jumpseat. One of them was a JetBlue guy, who talked to me. He too had headed over from JFK, but was going to head back for the last JetBlue flight out of JFK, and we talked about splitting a cab. He said there were 30 empty seats, but 26 standbys. There’s also 2 cockpit jumpseats, but there was no telling how many might show up at last minute. The last frontier flight of the day was scheduled to leave of 9:30pm, but I had serious doubts about whether it would fly at all, but still, it seemed the safest option.

After hours upon hours of sitting in a terminal with no seats, and people so packed in I couldn’t even wheel my rollerboard around, I got on the last flight to Denver somewhere around 10:30pm. I got the last seat, even, up in the cockpit. Or nearly so. I got settled in the cockpit, and at the last minute, one of the other non-revs decided not to go, which opened up a seat in the back. TSA regulations these days won’t let a pilot from another airline ride in a cockpit jumpseat if there’s a seat open in the back. So I hopped into a middle seat at the back of the plane, right behind a screaming kid. I didn’t have my book or headphones or ear plugs because it was all in my bag, in the cockpit. Still, I was so tired, I actually managed to sleep for a good bit of the flight. It was one of the more miserable flights I’ve been on, but thrilled I managed to make it home. Amusingly, I noticed the same Frontier pilot who took me from STL-DEN was also trying to get home. All together, the airline pilot community really isn’t all that big.

I got home right about 3am last night. Assuming the flights look okay, I’m going to head back Thursday morning.